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In 2010, the Chinese sanitary napkins/panty liners market continued to grow rapidly. According to the statistics by the China National Household Paper Industry Association (CNHPIA), the output of sanitary napkins was about 67.7 billion pieces and the sales volume was 60.9 billion pieces. The producers' sales revenue was about 16.44 billion yuan (calculated in accordance with average producer price, that is, 0.27yuan/pcs). The consumption volume was 54.8 billion pieces, up 6.6% than 2009. The market penetration rate was 82.3%. The output of panty liners was 31.8 billion pieces and the sales volume was 29.5 billion pieces. The producers' sales revenue was about 2.77 billion yuan (calculated in accordance with average producer price, that is, 0.094yuan/pcs). The consumption volume was about 27.6 billion pieces. In 2010, the total producers' sales revenue of sanitary napkins/pantiliners was about 19.21 billion yuan. The market size was about 41.14 billion yuan (calculated in accordance with average retailing price, that is, 0.66yuan/pcs for sanitary napkins and 0.18yuan/pcs for panty liners), up 8.0% than 2009. In 2010, the growth of sanitary napkins/pantyliners sales revenue was higher than that of sales volume because new high value-added products had been launched, high-grade product market share was expanding, night-use and ultra-thin products had been innovated and prices of products had been adjusted.

Major Manufacturers and brands

The sanitary napkin/panty liner market in China is still composed of many manufacturers. According to the statistics by the CNHPIA, at the end of 2010, there were 864 manufacturers in registration, compared to 174 in 2009.They are mainly located in Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Tianjin, etc.; however, there are few national brands. The brand concentration on the high-grade market is very high.

In 2010, the sales revenue of top 15 sanitary napkin/panty liner manufacturers occupied about 74.9% of China's total. The industry concentration rate is much higher than 2009. The national brands include An Erle, Whisper, Sofy, Comfort & Beauty, Kotex, Stayfree, Laurier, Haoshushuang, ABC, etc. The leading manufacturers are mainly located in areas of Shanghai, Guangdong and Fujian, etc.

Hengan Group is a large leading manufacturer of personal hygiene products in China. In 2010, its sanitary napkin business continued to grow rapidly. The sales revenue of sanitary napkins (including panty liners) had increased by about 24.5%, occupying about 23.6% of the group's whole sales revenue, much higher than the average growth rate of the market. Although in 2010 the price of main materials petrochemical products and fluff pulp obviously went up causing great cost pressures, the group took measures by strengthening the cost control and bringing up the sales proportion of middle and high grade products to offset the cost rising of raw materials.The group's gross profits of sanitary napkins grew slightly to about 62.5%.

* This article is part of a series of articles tracking different segments of the Chinese hygiene market which are taken from a report put together by the Chinese National Household Paper Industry Association (CNHPIA). For more information: 2004ads@sina.com; www.cnhpia.org.